VA Radio Host: Talk Show Hosts Afraid to Endorse Donald Trump over Fear of Establishment Repercussions

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Virginia morning talk radio host John Fredericks slammed his talk radio colleagues who are “too afraid” to endorse Donald Trump for fear of repercussions from the Republican Party’s donor class.

Fredericks — who was an early backer of Rep. Dave Brat in his successful 2014 primary challenge against ex-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor — said that the feedback he has gotten from his listeners about his endorsement of Trump has been “overwhelmingly positive.”

“My listeners’ reaction to my endorsement of Trump has been across the board positive,” Fredericks told Breitbart.

A lot of people in talk radio — conservative talk radio — don’t have the courage to say, “This is the guy that I’m for [i.e. Trump].” A lot of them support Trump secretly, but there’s still a fear amongst conservative media — even amongst talk radio — of some kind of GOP establishment repercussion for backing Trump.

“My colleagues will have Trump on their shows, and they’ll say nice things about him, but then they’ll back one of the other semi-establishment candidates, or they don’t back anyone at all,” Fredericks explained. “There’s a fear out here in talk radio. There’s a real apprehension amongst conservative talkers to say what we’re all thinking — that Trump is the guy.”

“The feedback I’m getting from my listeners is that they appreciate that somebody finally had the courage to stand up and do the right thing and support Trump regardless of whatever the consequences may be. You can’t get change without risking consequences,” Fredericks said.

“My listeners are blue-collar,” Fredericks explained. “They’ve seen their jobs diminish or disappear over these ridiculous trade deals and disastrous immigration policies. Trump is unencumbered. He’s not going to do what Goldman Sachs, or Wall Street, or donors in Las Vegas want him to do. He’s going to do what needs to be done for the people.”

“Look,” Fredericks said, “I do [my radio show during] the morning drive.”

My listeners are working folks. They’re driving to work in the morning, they’re punching the clock, going to the coal mines (the few of them that are left), the shipyards, the military defense base, they’re trying to make ends meet. On the weekend, they’re trying to figure out how they can afford to take their family to a movie. The elites in the Republican establishment have no idea what’s going on in real America. They’ve become isolated—they only listen to the Chamber of Commerce, and the donor, crony capitalist class. And it’s middle America that’s evaporating as the donor class keeps profiting. The truth is that the elite Republican ranks are so clueless about what’s going on. They don’t understand the Trump movement. They’re in denial, they’re delusional. People are looking for change. They no longer believe in the Republican leadership. That’s the bottom line. The Republican elite regime is so far removed from its base, they’re not even on the same planet anymore.

Fredericks cited the National Review’s “Against Trump” edition, explaining that the “elitist” contributors are “terrified” because, “if Trump becomes President, suddenly they’ll have one vote, just like the rest of us. No more special access. Just one vote.”

“They’ll have one ticket to a Trump rally, just like the rest of us,” Fredericks said.

Trump has empowered working people who have been disenfranchised and cut out of the system. This means that the elitists at National Review will no longer have their special access and it’s driving them nuts.

Many of these themes were echoed in Fredericks’s statement endorsing Trump. As Fredericks explained in his endorsement:

Every day, innocent Americans are being maimed and murdered by criminal aliens roaming free across this country. Violent gangs like MS-13 are spreading poverty, violence, and ruin. The streets are painted red with the blood of innocent Americans killed by those who should never have been allowed into the country to begin with.

But the Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing. They join in the mayhem, pushing legislation like Marco Rubio’s Gang of Eight bill to legalize sex offenders and gang members, and to give our jobs, our tax dollars and our voting booths to those who illegally entered our country.

Our schools are overcrowded. Our resources are stretched to the breaking point. Our educators indoctrinate our children to believe their own American culture is inferior.

Yet, our Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing. They push to make the congestion worse, giving precious school slots and dwindling dollars to ever-growing waves of newcomers who have not contributed a cent to our taxes or to our local treasuries.

Our workers are struggling to get raises, promotions, and job security. 17 million more U.S.-born workers in their working-age years were without jobs in 2014 than in 2000. Our working class has been laid to waste economically.

Yet, our Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing. They conspire with corporate lobbyists and cheap labor seeking donors to bring in more H-1B workers, H-2B workers, refugees, green-card holders, and foreign students and on and on to fill available jobs at lower wages…

There is one man in this race who will bring us back to sanity: Donald J. Trump.

Fredericks seemed to agree with conservative legend Phyllis Schlafly’s assessment that Trump is the “only hope to defeat the Kingmakers”—i.e. the donor class:

The establishment Washington Republican Party leadership class has become a for-profit business model. They appear to regard their shareholders, not as average folks, but as the members of the professional political class. The retread consultants who appear relentlessly on television, on campaigns, in the Congressional offices — it’s all one big revolving door. And everyone is profiting — but us. The D.C, GOP elites view dissent from voters, radio talk show hosts, activists, and conservative thinkers as annoyances to be quashed…

When is the last time you turned on the TV and heard a Republican pundit or politician defend the American worker and our wages? When is the last time the D.C. GOP fought as hard to protect your family from mass immigration as they fought to pass Obamatrade, or an awful omnibus budget deal, or another meaningless show vote? When is the last time your D.C. GOP elites spoke in your defense, instead of lecturing you about how you need to get with their program?

Fredericks continued:

When Disney workers were replaced with foreign H-1B workers, the D.C. GOP elites did not lift a finger on their behalf. Only Donald Trump demanded that Disney hire them back.

When terrorists attacked San Bernadino, the D.C. GOP elites went out of their way to tell us how America has a duty to let in as many Muslim immigrants as wish to come here, no matter what they believe about America. Only Donald Trump said it was time to hit pause.

When Obama tried to ram through his Fast Track for TPP, the Washington Republican Party elites laughed at your pleas, mocked us as “Neanderthals,” and shoved it through.

Only Trump said, “Hell no!”

Only one person in the race cannot be bought, cannot be corrupted. Only one person in this race can smash that revolving door to pieces.